The HEFCE report into governance at Bath University was discussed at a meeting of the University Court yesterday. Court is the statutory body made up of stakeholders, public, staff and student representatives. Court requested

• The immediate resignation and departure of the Vice Chancellor, Chair of Council and the Remuneration Committee, in whom Court expressed no confidence.

• Full acceptance and implementation of HEFCE’s findings and recommendations.

• A complete review of University governance, not just the “effectiveness” of the governing bodies.

• The addition of democratically elected staff and students to the Remuneration Committee, which sets senior management pay, and the removal of powers from the Remuneration Committee.

• Annual publishing of the University’s overall pay ratio between the lowest and highest paid staff, including perks such as grace and favour homes.

• A Living Wage be paid to all staff and that the University commence accreditation to the Living Wage Foundation within 12 months.

University Court has also agreed that:

• Council acted beyond its powers, violating the University Ordinances, in agreeing the Vice Chancellor’s departure package and that this has further damaged the reputation of the University.

• The University should appoint a senior external figure (a ‘Visitor’) who could be called upon to help address any future failings of governance.

A fuller version of the text from one of the motions has been published on the University website. The meeting has already been covered in the press, including BBC and Guardian.

The decision by University Court follows another vote of no confidence in the Vice Chancellor, Chair of Council and the Remuneration Committee last week. Academic Assembly voted by 128 to 29 for their immediate departure and a full review of University governance.

Staff, students and the university stake-holder body, Court, have all requested that those responsible for the failings of management and governance finally put the university before their personal ambitions and self-interest by stepping down from their positions of authority. The joint trade unions continue to support this call.

Thursday saw an unprecedented display of unity and strength from staff and students on campus, coming together to reject the Vice Chancellor’s golden handshake and demand the departure of the governors who cobbled the deal together. Almost a thousand students and staff joined the protest on campus, which received substantial press attention from the Guardian, BBC, ITV and Bath Chronicle.

The announcement of the Vice Chancellor’s departure, in 2019, with a paid ‘sabbatical’ worth £235K and the write off of a £31K car loan, has been roundly condemned outside of the university and by staff and students. That pressure, and the demonstration outside yesterday’s meeting of University Council meeting, led to a vote of no confidence in the Chair of Council, Thomas Sheppard. The vote was lost, as was to be expected from a governing body that has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to understand staff and student concerns. But Council was divided. Only 13 of the 22 voting members expressed confidence in the Chair by voting against the motion. 4 supported the motion and 5 abstained.

Also yesterday, members of Bath Students Union voted to no-confidence the whole of the University Council by 2371 to 151.

Staff and students have no confidence in the management or governance of the University of Bath. They command no loyalty from us. If they had integrity, they would have already resigned. As it is, they can only cling to the last shreds of such formal authority as remains to them.

Everybody except a few governors and those at the top of senior management now knows that a fresh start for the University is not possible under its current leadership.

Tuesday’s announcement that the Vice Chancellor is leaving in 2019 was clearly aimed at taking the heat out of the current crisis of governance at the university. With students holding a referendum of confidence in the governing body, and staff still seething about HEFCE’s attack on ‘poor governance’ that has damaged the university’s reputation, the prospect of a big protest outside today’s meeting of the University Council has caused panic at the top.

Our attention now, though, has to be focused on those who bear greater responsibility for the problems we are facing, and who show no sign of understanding that. They led us into this mess, they can’t lead us out of it.

That is why we are calling on all our members to demonstrate to members of the University Council that when they discuss the HEFCE report today they should consider very carefully what they have done, and what they have not done that has contributed to the failings of governance identified in the report. We are calling for a fresh start and that means a fresh look at who is running the university and how it is run.

Join your colleagues and students today at Wessex House. We will assemble in 5W2.1 from 3.15 and demonstrate our feelings to Council members as they arrive for their meeting at 3.45.

Employers are divided over the future of the USS pension scheme, with Warwick VC today making public his concerns about proposals to end the current scheme and transfer all risks to members. Bath VC Glynis Breakwell, who sits on the board of USS, has not revealed Bath University’s view.

UCU members are now being balloted for strike action to defeat the proposals. The ballot opens tomorrow, but members at Bath may not get their ballot papers untial a week later after Bath’s HR raised objections to the ballot process.

Hundreds of staff crowded into 5West lecture theatre today to express their anger and concern about the findings of Monday’s HEFCE report which was highly critical of many aspects of the way the university is run. Many more staff were diverted to another lecture theatre next door after security raised safety concerns. The meeting backed the unions’ call for the VC and Chair of Council and the Remuneration Committee to go ‘with immediate effect’, and agreed to join students protesting at next Thursday’s meeting of University Council if both are still in position by that time.

Yesterday HEFCE (the HE Funding Council for England) published a report that is highly critical of many aspects of the way the university is run.

The Vice-Chancellor and senior managers did not act “in good faith” when their pay was discussed at Court in February (Findings 25 and 26).

The university has been in breach of its own statutes for fifty years by not having standing orders for Court (Conclusion 10).

HEFCE is disappointed that university management “did not respond more proactively to the representations made about the Remuneration Committee” over recent years (Conclusion 12).

Consideration should be given to including staff and/or student representatives on the Remuneration Committee (Recommendation 11).

The governing body has ignored official guidance on the practice of remuneration committees, even though it was published more than two years ago (Finding 30).

There is not “sufficient evidence that Council has considered these matters [remuneration] as thoroughly as it should” (Finding 32).

The university’s poor governance practice has damaged the reputation of the university (Conclusion 9 and multiple recommendations)

Just before the HEFCE report was published, a new 3.9% pay rise for the Vice Chancellor was disclosed. The pay rise was only revealed following a Freedom of Information request. The trade unions’ view of this is that the university’s reputation for teaching and research excellence is built on the hard work of all its staff – including the large numbers on zero hours and other insecure contracts. The view of those who run the university is that the Vice Chancellor and other senior managers are responsible for the university’s success, and deserve big pay rises while everybody else gets a pay cut.

The Chair of the University Council (governing body of the University)and University Remuneration Committee Thomas Sheppard has issued a response to the report, but he did not include a copy of or a link to the HEFCE report in his message. You can see some of the headlines from it above.

Despite the local and national interest in this matter, nobody is able to respond to this message because the comments function has been disabled.

Mr Sheppard occupies an important role, but he is not the University.

If you don’t want your comments to be disabled by Mr. Sheppard, come to tomorrow’s emergency all staff meeting from 12.15 – 1.00 in 5W2.4

Thousands of postgrads are signing up for UCU’s free membership offer. UCU negotiates your pay, your contract and your pension. The more of us there are the stronger we can be in our negotiations with the vice-chancellors and their similarly well paid representatives. To join UCU for free see here.